Amazing Adult Fantasy #14 (1962): First Appearance of Mutants!

OK, I’m only writing about this to prove my research/nerd chops. In this one-off story, a kid has the power to both read and move things with his mind, his peers fear him for it and try to kill him, and then an old man appears in his mind telling him he is not alone and “mutants” are everywhere…”We are the future!” the voice says.

Steve Ditko gets no credit for helping create the X-Men, but we see the concept for the series in this short story, which has largely been forgotten.

Of course, the next issue of Amazing Fantasy (they dropped the word “adult”) would launch Marvel’s most famous character of all time.

Creators: Stan Lee, Steve Ditko

First appearances: Mutants

Grade: C+. It’s an average Twilight-Zone type story from the era, and although parts of it were made canonical later, it’s completely inessential.